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Hairspring Havoc


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Would anyone know how to straighten out the overcoil on this hairspring? It is from a slimline Bulova movement and the mis-shaped overcoil causes the hairspring to sit out of flat so that rubs on the balance wheel. The spring is just slightly out of flat, which would not cause problems on most watches but because of the movements slimness it is a real problem! 

 

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I such a case two pairs of tweezers  and a great deal of patience and a steady hand, There is a good U Tube video by Mark on just that.  Before venturing to attempt the job have a look at Marks video then re assess the job based on what you have watched, if you feel confident carry on if not seek further help.all the best in your endeavour,

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I find the overcoil very difficult to work on as it is not resting on a flat surface. You need steady hands and make very small adjustments. I recently wrecked a Universal hairspring trying to make a tweek like the one you need. The overcoil somehow got wrapped in the coils. :thumbsd:

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Like many I have wrecked several hairsprings.  Often it is just tweezer control.  Working under magnification it is easy to misjudge dimensions, and often I have released the tweezer, with it opening too much only for it to mangle the hairspring. I now have a small elastic band fitted to the shank of the tweezers to limit how much they open when released. The elastic band can be moved up and down the shank to adjust the tweezer gap at the tips.  I have found this helps considerably.  But I still manage to wreck some!!!!!

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Two tweezers on a hairspring is always the last resort. Sometimes the only way though. If I was doing this and it was too weird or too little access to do installed with the balance (preferred way), I'd put the spring alone on the cock and try to get it as good as possible then finish with balance in.

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mark has some great videos on hairspring manipulation, unfortunately this is one of those things that will be very difficult to explain to someone with words. Best thing to do is watch videos, even videos really dont do much justice. I practice on scrap hairsprings, because one thing is tweezer pressure. Knowing the right amount of pressure is key, too much pressure can cause your hairspring to go in a completely different direction than you initially intended. Me personally I have no patience ( yes i know, why do i repair watches then? well somehow it calms me down kinda like building model airplanes, but the frustration still comes out here and there) so i always just replace the hairspring if its available.

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    • I've remained silent on this thread, and at the risk of upsetting everyone, the thing that worries me the most the the apparent absence of Mark. The moderators do a great job and the members also pitch in, and the site seems to run itself, but it is a concern for the future of this forum when the owner is absent for all intents and purposes. Like many of the comments above I would hate to log in one day and things be closed down as I rely on this site for ideas and knowledge and also cheer me up. maybe the Moderators could reach out to him, assuming he does not read this thread, and express our concerns and let us know the plans going forward? some kind of WRT ark
    • That was the exact reason for me starting this thread watchie. Still we haven't worked out how the regulars are going to hook up if it goes tits up. I honestly think something should be arranged to stay in contact, we all help each other so much. 
    • Yeah ive watched that a few times before,  i couldnt find my old school dividers to scribe it up 😅 Yep thats the guy i bought a roll from . Thanks Nicklesilver that answers that perfectly and more or less what i thought an experiment over time would prove . The jumper arm is quite thick along its length, i left it that way intentionally, i thought the original was probably very thin, i didnt see that it was already missing. Setting isn't particularly stiff as such just positive, i still need to take it out and polish where it mates with the stem release. 
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